Bulgaria Socialist Leader: Ex Rulers Messed Security

Party of European Socialists and Bulgarian Socialist party chair Sergey Stanishev. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's ex rulers have no right to criticize the Oresharski cabinet's handling of security, given their own poor record in the area, said socialist leader Sergey Stanishev.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party chair spoke in Parliament right after MPs rejected a no-confidence motion against the cabinet tabled by former ruling party GERB.

"All too fresh are the memories of Bulgarian society of the baseless accusations publicly brandished by former ministers, of the flashy police operation, of the attempts to subject the judiciary to one political party," said Stanishev.

"All too vivid are the memories of the pressure upon businesses, of the demonization of everyone who dared to oppose the power of [ex PM] Boyko Borisov and [ex Interior Minister] Tsvetan Tsvetanov," added he.

According to the leftist leader, the cabinet of current PM Plamen Oresharski, which has been formed on the Bulgarian Socialist Party mandate, has for its nine months in power made significant steps towards the normalization of the government's policies in the areas of security and the fight against organized crime.